NEW YORK – New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks is retiring. 

Officials insisted his decision was made before federal agents raided his home and seized his phones, and that of his partner First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, on Sept. 4. 

Banks is just the latest top leader of the Adams administration to announce their departure. 

It comes just one day after Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan announced his resignation for personal and family reasons. 

In his resignation letter, Banks said he told Adams earlier this year that he planned to retire by the end of the year. 

His retirement will take effect on Dec. 31. 

Banks touts accomplishments, Adams praises him

“I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished during my tenure and the opportunity to work alongside such dedicated professionals to shape the future of education in our great city is one that I will always cherish. We have faced many challenges and made significant strides in improving the educational landscape for our students, families and educators,” Banks wrote. “Together we laid the groundwork to ensure every child can read, expanded special education services and gifted & talented programs, improved school food, welcomed over 45,000 migrant students and, through a series of innovative partnerships ensured that all students will graduate on a pathway to a rewarding career and long-term economic security, equipped to be a positive force for change.”

“Serving as Chancellor has been a profound honor and a deeply fulfilling experience. Thank you for the opportunity to serve, and for your support throughout my tenure. Please know that I will do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition. I am confident that NYC Public Schools will continue to grow, innovate and excel under the next Chancellor,” he added. 

“I am immensely grateful and proud of the work accomplished in New York City Public Schools under Chancellor David Banks. In less than three years, our city’s public schools have transformed — from ensuring schools were safe and open coming out of the pandemic to a space that has increased our students’ reading scores, math scores, and graduation rates,” Mayor Eric Adams said.  “We’ve implemented critical initiatives like ‘NYC Reads,’ ‘NYC Solves,’ and universal dyslexia screenings, while also ensuring a seamless and timely coordination with partners to welcome, enroll, and support thousands of newly-arriving students and their families on a citywide scale. We’ve done all this and more on behalf of nearly 1 million public school students, and Chancellor Banks was crucial to getting that done every day. On behalf of all New Yorkers, we thank Chancellor Banks for his service, and wish him well in his retirement at the end of the calendar year.” 

Spate of top level departures amid several federal investigations 

Banks did not cite the ongoing federal investigations into the Adams administration in his departure letter. But the home he shared with Wright was raided by federal authorities earlier this month. 

Last week, Adams’ chief counsel Lisa Zornberg suddenly quit. She said she couldn’t do her job effectively amid the probe. 

Days earlier, former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned after federal agents raided his home. And Interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon, who took over the department after Caban, said federal agents raided his home, saying they were searching for documents that were in his possession for over 20 years and were unrelated to his work as police commissioner. 

Laura Kavanagh, the FDNY’s first female commissioner, announced her departure in July.

A song that sounds like it was released by Justin Bieber, with lyrics saying the singer “lost myself at a ‘Diddy’ party,” has racked up millions of views across social platforms including TikTok, X and YouTube. Researchers tell CBS News the song was likely created using artificial intelligence. 

The song first surfaced across platforms in April, with one TikTok video amassing 7 million views. It recently went viral after Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged last week with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs has denied the charges.

Lyrics include, “Wasn’t worth all the fortune and fame” and “I was in it for a new Ferrari, but it cost me way more than my soul.” The song appears to reference allegations of sexual abuse and other misconduct at Combs’ residences.

There is no record of Bieber releasing the song and it does not appear in his catalog. Representatives for Bieber did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment. Bieber was signed by Combs’ protégé, Usher, in 2008.

Many social media users pointed out the song seems to sound like it was created with AI; others appeared to believe the song was released by Bieber. The song has been used in more than 4,500 TikTok videos alone, CBS News found. 

Google Trends data shows searches for the words “Bieber” and “Diddy” together peaked from late March to early April, around the time the song began circulating on social media, and searches for the two artists peaked again when the song began recirculating in late September. 

Expert opinion

CBS News ran the song through multiple AI audio detection tools; several results indicated the audio, or at least parts of it, were likely AI-generated.

In addition, Stephen Stahl, co-founder of Ai-SPY, an AI audio detection tool, told CBS News he believes the song is possibly AI-generated. Stahl said someone likely wrote the lyrics and melody, then uploaded it to a website and used a clone of Justin Bieber’s voice to create the song.

“AI is [going to] be able to help anybody create a song easily, quicker, more efficiently,” Stahl said. “The downside is that everybody will be able to create a song. So talent is no longer a prerequisite to construct a great song.”

Zohaib Ahmed, CEO and founder of Resemble AI, an AI detection company, told CBS News his company’s tool found the song is likely AI-generated.

Combs’ music catalog saw a jump in streams following his indictment, with an average 18.3% increase the week of his arrest compared to the previous week, according to industry data and analytics company Luminate.

contributed to this report.

Erielle Delzer

Erielle Delzer is a verification producer for CBS News Confirmed. She covers misinformation, AI and social media. Contact Erielle at erielle.delzer@cbsnews.com.